Hillary Kerr is the co-founder of MyDomaine. She believes that the perfect nursery can be a contradiction. Hillary Kerr wanted to design a nursery for her son Clark that was both child-friendly and not too childish. She explains, “We purchased our first house shortly after Clark’s birth and wanted to create something special for him that didn’t feel too babyish.
Kerr and Jonathan Leahy enlisted the help of interior designer Deborah Rhein Gleiberman from D.L. Rhein to make their dream nursery a reality. We were thrilled to be able to work with Deborah on a design that was serene, whimsical, and full of our favorite things–books!
Kerr’s love for books creates an understated literary theme in the nursery. The nursery is filled with stacks of books for children, the covers of which are displayed as art, and the wallpaper evokes an adventure inspired by a childhood favorite. The wallpaper mural is from Rebel Walls. “It looks like something out of Where the Wild Things Are, and Clark loves it,” says she.
Clark’s green nursery is a space filled with personality and anything but childish.
Kerr and Leahy knew they wanted their nursery to be unique but also that it should blend seamlessly into the rest of their interior design. Kerr says that the nursery is a bit more whimsical, but it fits in with the style of the entire house. This was very important to us. It’s always strange to me when I see a place wholly styled in one way, and the children’s rooms are different. It felt like an old-fashioned way to decorate children’s rooms, which I wanted to avoid.
Kerr selected furniture with cozy fabrics and clean midcentury modern lines to match their aesthetic. So, the hero pieces are restyled and can be used as Clark grows. She says the Pottery Barn Kids glider is the most-used and unique item in the room. “We love that it’s striped.” “We often joke that stripes are the favorite color of our family, and this chair reflects that sentiment.”
Using old furniture and decor from the previous house also helps keep this nursery looking sophisticated. Two of the main pieces in the greenhouse were bought before Kerr became pregnant. The dresser was a vintage item, and the rug had been in her bedroom for many years. Now, they are being repurposed to fit Clark’s needs.
The emerald carpet was the inspiration for the entire design. Jonathan and I love green, and since we have not used the color much in our home, it seemed a good idea to use it for Clark’s bedroom. “Especially because the rug in our old home was the perfect size,” she says. “Deborah proposed it, and then we built the room from there. We thought that was a good plan.”
The rug they already had made choosing a color scheme easy, but other design aspects were more complex. Kerr says, “We spent a lot of time searching for the perfect wallpaper.” The pattern had to be more feminine without being too gender-specific. They found the whimsical woodland wallpaper from Rebel Walls, which was perfect. “[We] loved that it allowed us more color in the space.”
The nursery is more than just a beautiful space. It’s filled with decor that speaks of Kerr and Leahy’s relationship. The mini-guitar is a nod to Leahy’s work as a music supervisor. Plush dinosaurs are a nod to Leahy’s joke regarding T-Rex. A miniature children’s cooking kitchen speaks of the couple’s passion for cooking. “I am excited about Clark’s play kitchen. My husband and I love cooking, and we hope Clark will too!”
